DVap

Madame Psychosis Summary - Pt 1

Madame Psychosis graciously agreed to summarize some of the major observations and conclusions arrived at via a group effort in several very long and sometimes tedious threads, particularly the "so-we-getting-we-not-nicotine" thread (often referred to as the "are we getting it or not" thread). This thread is worth a read in it's own right, but is very long.

The basic ideas:
* The thread started with the initial question: are we getting nicotine? DVap has summarized the issues and data so far in his very useful overview here.
* The thread changed direction into the question: what aren’t we getting? Why aren’t all of us satisfied with vaping? If this sounds like your concern, read on.

Here’s what it came to:1. The X-Factor:
Many of us feel that we are “missing something” after switching to vaping, where we only get nicotine.

2. The Rest of Tobacco:
Significant research confirms that the non-nicotine alkaloids in tobacco are psychoactive and are an important contributor to tobacco’s effect – and to why many of us smoked.

3. Variable Addiction & What Some of Us Need:
Tobacco dependence is multi-dimensional, and individuals vary in what they “got” from smoking. Numerous anecdotes show that for some people, these non-nicotine alkaloids in tobacco can be just as important as, if not more important than, nicotine. They are part of the mental, psychological, and physical sense of balance/normalcy that many of us got from smoking.

4. WTA Liquid – Confirmation of a Hypothesis
Dvap’s extraction of a whole alkaloid spread from tobacco (“Whole Tobacco Alkaloid” liquid or WTA), and its preliminary success in testers, confirms that a major part of the sensation and satisfaction of smoking comes from the wide range of alkaloids beyond nicotine.

5. What You Can Do
There are a few solutions available to those who find vaping cannot satisfy them. WTA liquid is not commercially available, nor can it be extracted by DIY methods. The safest and most widely available solution is Swedish snus and other reduced-harm smokeless tobacco.

This thread served as the discussion home for those of us seeking the “X-factor” – those of us who are still seeking sanity without cigarettes.
Onto Part 2